


these things take time

by PianissimoPi



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 20:55:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9090391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PianissimoPi/pseuds/PianissimoPi
Summary: healing is never easy, but sometimes you just need to take it one step at a timeor: jean gives jeremy his game





	

**Author's Note:**

> title from the smiths song

“It’s going to take time, but eventually things are going to get better.” Renee’s voice was gentle on the other line. Jean clutched phone tighter and didn’t say anything. Renee was two thousand miles away and despite her kind words, Jean couldn’t find it in him to believe her. He wished she was here, in California. He wanted to see her face. 

Jean has always had a bad habit of wanting things he can’t have.

There are a thousand things he could say to Renee, and a thousand things he should say, but Jeremy Knox was walking into their shared dorm and Jean couldn’t make himself say those things with him there. Their eyes met across the room, and Jeremy’s smile was warm enough to light up the dark side of the moon. Jean looked away a second too late. 

“I’ve got to go,” he said, too quickly and too loudly. He knew Renee can hear the finality in his voice but she knows him well enough to not question it. 

“Call again tomorrow?” Neither of them mentioned how Renee’s calls are what get Jean through the day sometimes. 

“Of course.” 

The call ended. Jean looked up and Jeremy was looking back at him with an expression Jean couldn’t quite place. He hoped it wasn’t pity. He’d seen too much pity in the last few weeks to last a lifetime. 

“What do you want?” It came off more brusque than he had intended, but Jeremy didn’t seem offended or taken aback. Instead, his confusing expression morphed into the signature Jeremy Knox grin Jean sees too often. 

“Laila, Alvarez, and I were going to get burgers, and we were wondering if you wanted to come with. Or if you don’t want to come, we could bring you something back.” Jean stared at Jeremy, daring him to break first. Jeremy kept smiling though, although Jean could see the tension in his frame. A small part of Jean wanted to accept the offer, because a small part of him longed for the human interaction he had been deprived of for so long. But a much bigger part of him wanted to see Jeremy snap. To have the offer rescinded and this awkward benevolence thrown back in his face. 

That was how it was like with Riko. And Tetsuji. Even Kevin in his own way, shutting Jean out of his life. It’s only a matter of time before Jeremy does the same.

When you’re a Raven, no one is your friend. 

Jean turned away. “I already ate, thanks.” He could feel Jeremy’s eyes on him, but he didn’t look. After what feels like an eternity, something dropped on the bed behind him and Jean flinched, waiting instinctively for a blow that he knew wasn’t coming. He could feel Jeremy freeze from where he is standing near the door. Stupid, he cursed himself.

“They’re dead.” Jeremy’s voice was gentle, all signs of that forced cheer gone. With a pang, Jean realized just how similar Renee and Jeremy are. “Jean, you’re safe here, with us. With me. Riko and Tetsuji, the other Ravens, they aren’t going to get you.” 

Jean wanted to laugh at how naive Jeremy’s words are, but the sound that came out of his throat is a strangled sound, dying the minute it was created. “You don’t know anything,” Jean hissed, whipping around to face Jeremy. For a moment, Jeremy’s face was startled, taken aback, but he quickly smoothed it over. Jean barrelled on. “You know nothing about me, about the Ravens, about what we went through.”

“Then tell me.”

“No.”

“Then don’t tell me.” Jeremy backed away and sat down at the edge of his own bed, as if proving to Jean he was not going to hurt him. He ran a hand through his hair and grinned mirthlessly at Jean. “I don’t know what to do here, Jean. We’re three weeks into the season and the team is a mess. Half the team is mad at me for cutting the line, the other half is mad because you won’t play with them.”

Jean snorted. “What you call ‘playing Exy’ wouldn’t cut it at the Nest.”

“But you’re not at the Nest anymore!” Jeremy ran his hand through his hair again, more aggressively. If he kept at it, he’d be bald before the conversation was over. “Look, Jean, I’ve been talking to Rheman and he wants to cut you from the starting line.”

Jean bolted up, fear coursing through him. “You can’t.” If Jean didn’t play, Ichirou would undoubtedly see him as a bad investment and Neil Josten’s fragile deal would crumble in a nanosecond. Exy was Jean’s life, but not in the way it was for Kevin. Exy was Kevin’s obsession, his only love outside of Thea. For Jean, it was his job, his chore. And now, thanks to Josten, the only reason he was still alive. He wouldn’t have that thrown away by Jeremy Knox and his team.

Jean’s desperation must have been clear in his eyes, because Jeremy immediately backpedalled. “Nothing’s final, nothing’s set in stone yet. You’re still on the starting line. It’s just that based on how practices have been going, it’s something Rheman is considering.” 

“Just Rheman?” Jean’s heart began to slow down and he found he could breathe a little easier.

A smile appeared the sides of Jeremy’s mouth. “You’re the best backliner there is, Jean. You just need to start playing like it.”

“Don’t let Alvarez hear that.” 

“Or Laila.” Jeremy’s smile dimmed a little and he leaned forward on the bed. “Jean, what will it take for you to stop playing for them, and start playing for me?”

Jean blinked, taken aback. “Pardon?”

“I want you to give me your game, Jean. Not just on the court, but off it too. The team needs that. I need that.” Jeremy’s smile slipped back into place. “But most importantly, I think you need that.”

“What will you give me?” The words come out of Jean before he can stop it. He wanted to take them back, but even the dread he can feel in the pit of his stomach couldn’t completely mask the happy feeling he got when Jeremy’s face lit up at his words. 

“Anything.” 

“Let me teach your team Raven drills.” Jeremy’s smile fell as quickly as it had appeared, but Jean continued before Jeremy could speak. “You don’t want to admit it, but the Ravens were the best. You want your team to go to the finals, you need Raven training. Especially since you stupidly cut your line to prove a point to the Foxes. Your team needs this.”

“It’s your team too.” Jeremy’s hundred watt smile was back in full force and it was all Jean could do to not be blinded. He hoped this was not a mistake, putting his future and his life in the hands of someone he barely knew. Someone who could easily take this delicate balance they had just created and twist it. Jean’s life was in Jeremy’s hands and Jeremy’s team was in his. That would have to be enough.

The silence stretched longer than it should have, both of them staring at each other, akin to the scene only a few minutes before. But the atmosphere had shifted. For the first time in a very long time, maybe since he had first met Renee, Jean felt a glimmer of hope. “So, burgers?”

If anything, Jeremy’s smile got brighter. “Laila and Alvarez are going to kill us for taking so long. Come on!”

**Author's Note:**

> that had way more angst than i originally intended it to, but there will be happier times ahead
> 
> you can find me [here if you want to say hi](http://the-cabeswater-five.tumblr.com)


End file.
